The interview on KVUE

Get the link at youtube.com/auxrecords

SXSW Day 4 & Return Trip to Syracuse

As Saturday came around I was back at the convention center but more importantly back at Emos bouncing from stage to stage. I met back up with Eric, who runs supergnarly.com
and is doing merch for Circa Survive on their tour. He is from CNY and when I passed along a disk the other day at Spiros he immediately recognized it as Merit's. I had run out of my quota of The Pilot Lies and Anorexic Beauty Queen disks Thursday, so I brought extra copies on Saturday for him. I found it interesting that we are from the same area and the first time our paths cross is halfway across the country. Eric is writing a tour blog at tipmeplease.com so check in on how things go on the road in the big bus with Circa Survive.

So I'll only plug a few bands I caught Saturday. Deerhunter - killer show with dead on vocals. I also caught a bit of Spitalfield playing acoustic.

I ended up trying to catch an early flight home because of weather and work - both of which were going down in Syracuse. I missed the last flight by minutes so decided to just camp out at the airport for my regularly scheduled flight at about 7:00 am on Saturday. While there, I was interviewed as part of a SXSW travel piece by KVUE. The package was broadcast Saturday night but I got a copy of it that I'll post soon. It's on their site as I write this but I'm sure it's going offline soon.

While I spent the night in the terminal, I redesigned the entire Aux Records website. I hope to launch it this week. Much cleaner. More style. I want to test it's functionality before going live though.

I'm home for a couple days before going back on the road to San Diego late this week and NYC early next week. I don't miss the airports but I sure as hell miss Austin. I'll be back next year for sure but don't count out another trip before then. To everyone I crossed paths with, thanks for the memories, let's make more.

SXSW Days 2 + 3

Yesterday and today almost became one really long day. I started out going to the Shirts for a Cure show at Spiros where I was hoping to catch a few bands I haven't seen or hadn't experienced in awhile. Notable performances included Pierce The Veil (who will be releasing their album with one of my favorite labels, though nothing has been announced so I won't spill it), Against Me! and Bane. Between sets I met a ton of people since I was passing out disks from the label. Central Texas has now been introduced to ABQ, Merit and TPL.

Back to the SFAC show, Circa Survive stole the show. It was the first show of tour and their new music will make a huge impact. They played 2 or 3 from the new album which comes out in May. I got to chat with a few of the CS guys since it was the first show I have been at since my dissertation defense (I interviewed Anthony as part of the process) so it was nice to say thanks in person again. They play tomorrow and I plan on catching them one more time since they are on the road for awhile.

Yesterday, I also stopped in to see Ian Moore at the Fontana party and caught a few songs from Between The Trees.

Later on in the day I caught up with Stacey and Jason from DMR Booking in Syracuse. We started at the Dirty Dog on 6th where Jason and I did a little arm wrestling for the crowd. I believe there are a couple photos of me holding up well before eventually losing the match. If I can get my hands on them, I'll post them. We did a little bar hopping ending up at Buffalo Billiards for Bob Mould's set. Most people remember him from his days in Hüsker Dü. I've wanted to see him since getting his solo work back in my college radio days.

After breaking off from Stacey and Jason, I made my way back to check out a hip hop show at Spiros before turning in.

Today started early at the ReverbNation party. I met up with everyone that runs the site that has taken lots of my time. Elemeno P were the most impressive of the day, though Authority Zero held it down as well.

I managed to get in a couple sessions between the bands. I attended a session titled "Why Does Today's Music Sound Like S#!t?" I originally thought the panel would touch on more of the label gatekeeping function (related to my dissertation) than they did but they did deliver a ton of technical info that I can pass along during future recording. I also met up with Sandy Pearlman, a former industry worker turned academician. We talked shop for a few and I may see if he can make a trip to Syracuse University to address the music and media classes. He teaches a lot of music-based college courses.

From the SXSW hub I made it to the big free outdoor show where Ozomatli and Public Enemy. That's when I called it quits. Time for some rest before tomorrows sessions and shows. I fly back early Sunday morning and I hear it is snowing back in CNY. I don't think I've ever shoveled while having a sunburn. There is a first time for everything I guess...

SXSW Day 1

I planned most of yesterday from 11-noon at the Verizon booth where you could download music and listen to it in these chairs with surround sound speakers built in. Of course I downloaded Merit tracks from "When We Fight" (the only Aux disk available right now) onto the phones that fed the speakers in the chairs so everyone there could check it out. I met up with a few people from Saddle Creek and Sure Fire PR at the sessions for indie labels, management and PR and also ran into half of The Scarlet Ending (Syracuse) at one of the sessions.

The Canadians hosted a big BBQ and had bands from across the country playing that. Malajube put on a hell of a show. Then off to 6th street for some food, tequila and more music.

It's 10:30 am on the start of day 2 so I need to get walking soon to make it back to the shows/conference. The Shirts For A Cure show featuring Circa Survive and Against Me is today. Doors are in an hour so I'm going to try to catch The Spill Canvas' acoustic set before hitting the conference.

If you don't know Shirts For A Cure, it's a great organization.

From their site (www.shirtsforacure.com):

The Syrentha J. Savio Endowment (SSE) was established by punk-rock photographer Mark Beemer in 2002. SSE provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford expensive breast cancer medicine and therapy. The Shirts For A Cure Project (SFAC) was launched by SSE to give voice to the social concerns of punk bands and their many fans as well as to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention.

When a band donates a shirt design to SFAC, the design becomes exclusive to SSE. We sell the shirt and use the proceeds to help women fighting breast cancer. If you would like to support our cause please take a moment to peruse the more then 90 shirts we offer. All shirts are printed on 100% pre-shrunk cotton unless otherwise stated. For a donation of $12 (plus shipping and handling) you will be helping someone who is in need as well as receiving an exclusive shirt from your favorite band.

SXSW Day 0

Yesterday was my travel day to Austin. The flights were uneventful with the exception of the delay at JFK. It wasn't long but the flight ahead of us took out a flock of birds upon takeoff so they had to clean the runway. I got to Texas around noon and got a tour of the city from a friend in town before going for some of the best tamales I've ever had. The city is clean, energetic and full of music with easily accessible venues everywhere. We'll see if the clean and energetic qualities remain after 1,400 (official) bands and thousands more attendees take the city on.

I had hoped to catch an interview with Chamillionaire followed by a short set at the Carver Museum but the massive rain kept me in. I got soaked walking to get my registration information (I'm staying a 30 minute walk from downtown) and wasn't going to go through that again. Let's hope the weather cooperates today.

I'm off to the sessions soon. I may write more tonight after the sessions and before the shows if I get online. If not, I'll check in tonight.

SXSW prep

The trip to Austin is an annual journey for many of those in the music industry. I make my first trip this year and I leave for Texas on Tuesday. There is not enough time to try to plan out where I need to go, who I need to see and which of the showcases to attend. I know I need to be at the Chamillionaire kick off show. I'm scheduled to hit the ReverbNation and Syndicate parties. Friends from No Idea Records will be around. I'm also going to catch up with a few friends
from Syracuse that are going plus I'm planning on meeting a ton of new people. I don't know what my Internet access will be like there but if I can get online, I'll try to write or do a podcast each day of SXSW.